Schools cricket stumped by virus

By Laura Taylor, Mar 26 2020 12:26PM

Schools cricket is the latest sport to be hit for six by the coronavirus.

Most national competitions will be delayed - and could be cancelled altogether if there is no change in circumstances in the coming weeks.

To date, no final decision has been made about the School Sport Magazine National Schools U15 and U18 T20 Girls Cricket Cups.

But the schools’ closure programme means ordinary fixtures have been postponed until further notice while regional cup tournaments have also been put on hold.

Ken Lake, general secretary of the English School Cricket Association, explained: “In the light of information from the ECB and Government advice, ESCA is postponing the national rounds of our competitions the David English U13 Cup, the inspiresport U15 One Day Cup, Saracens U11 Hardball and T20 until further notice. The same should apply to our county competitions.

“If it is humanely possible to start up again, we will try to do so but I am not hopeful. It should be noted that some schools are already pulling out of the competitions.”

A spokesman for School Sport Magazine said: “It’s a rapidly changing situation as you can imagine so we don't intend to make any early decision on the competitions.

“At the moment we still hope they may be able to go ahead in some way at some stage as the flexibility of the format may allow schools to organise mini festivals to take place involving three or four schools rather than a series of single matches, even starting in the second half of the summer term.

“But it all depends on the progress of the virus and Government advice. We are all waiting to see currently but are remaining optimistic.”